Abele and Qualter Earn Weekly NEC Honors

Nov 05, 2013

The Central Connecticut men's soccer team is 6-0 in Northeast Conference play following a pair of home wins last weekend, helping them secure the 2013 NEC Regular Season Championship. The NEC honored a pair of Blue Devils for their performances last week as Central went 2-0 with a pair of home victories.

Junior goalkeeper Josef Abele was named the NEC Player of the Week after posting a pair of NEC victories in net this past weekend, allowing only one goal on a penalty kick over 180:00 of soccer as CCSU clinched the regular season conference crown. The goal keeper made 12 saves in the two home wins over Saint Francis U (1-0) and Robert Morris (2-1). Abele made Manny Nobre's 56th minute penalty kick hold up in Friday's win over Saint Francis U, which entered the matchup as the top-ranked team in the NSCAA North Atlantic Poll.

After posting a clean sheet against SFU, Abele held Robert Morris and NEC goals leader Neco Brett off the scoreboard for the first 58 minutes of Sunday's 2-1 victory. Abele saved eight of nine shots on goal in the contest with Brett's 59th minute PK being the lone ball to get past him. Prior to Brett's PK goal, Abele and the Blue Devils had played 375:57 of shutout soccer against conference foes.

Freshman Conor Qualter earned his third NEC Rookie of ther Week Award, helping the Blue Devils to a pair of victories that allowed the team to sew up the NEC regular season title. The freshman's efforts helped CCSU blank Saint Francis. Qualter and the Blue Devils kept NEC opponents off the scoreboard for nearly 376 consecutive minutes before Robert Morris' Neco Brett finally broke through on a penalty kick during Sunday's matinee in New Britain. The PK was the lone goal surrendered by the CCSU defense in the two NEC victories over SFU and RMU.